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Deaf people in tough war against HIV
The problems facing deaf people in Tanzania are so complex that they create a hurtful circle.
Besides, only a few people are aware of the critical situation surrounding people in the country, and even fewer understand the sign language (TSL).
This kind of situation tends to subject deaf learners to a number of serious problems due to lack of access to equal opportunities.
This in turn leads to other consequences in their life, including inequality in all spheres, namely linguistically, socially, economically, politically, culturally, as well as in other social services like education, health and communication.
Deaf people are usually marginalised and consequently subjected to unemployment and endless poverty.
Last week a team of journalists from various media houses visited Tanzania Association of the Deaf (Chavita) at Mtoni area on the outskirt of Dar es Salaam.
The trip was organised by the Association of Journalists Against Aids (AJAAT) and funded by the African Medical Research Foundation (Amref).
A Chavita member, Ms Upendo Mnasi, who is also deaf and HIV positive, admits that lack of education and the kind of lifestyle she used to live contributed to her present situation.
“It is hard to explain how my life style was and how it led me to get HIV infection. It is painful to tell it,” she said.
She says she was born 41 years ago and discovered she was HIV positive in 1999. She decided to undergo HIV test after endless illness, which she could not know its cause.
According to Ms Mnasi, in the beginning she did not know the importance of testing because she could neither read nor write.
“I thank God, through TACAIDS I managed to break my silence and decided to know my status by voluntarily testing,” she adds.
Gratefully, she says since then she has been getting the Anti retroviral drugs (ARVs) from the suggested health centre without a problem.
“The major problem we are facing is failure to get proper instructions from experts on how to administer the tablets. Most nurses and doctors who provide medicines are not capable of using sign language for deaf people living with HIV,” she claims.
She adds that they prevent themselves from new infections by having safe sex but there are times when they reveal that they are HIV positive, people avoid them.
She, however, urges the government to support them because they are not only disabled but also HIV positive, a situation that adds misery to their lives .
Both deaf and HIV positive, Mr David David and Mwanahawa Hassan, residents of Sinza, say that a family is generally the source of support, encouragement and comfort during hard times of life, unfortunately many don’t have that kind of relationship with their families.
They say that they have been together as a couple for a long time, but unfortunately are not blessed with children yet.
“When we got married our families never supported us, instead they rejected us; something which didn’t end our relationship, we decided to carry on with marriage and live our life,” they said.
According to Mr David, people with hearing loss are often treated as second class citizens, adding that sometimes such kind of treatment is intentional but much of this is due to lack of awareness by the general public.
He says this treatment is evident in many aspects of life and results in lack of things that are important to the deaf community.
Mr David says that services are not enough to sustain the majority of health facilities. But the biggest is lack of specialists in communication skills for the deaf and blind persons.
He expounded that given the opportunities deaf people can be productive members of Tanzanian workforce.
This can only happen if stakeholders and the government efforts to include deaf and other disability issues in economic planning.
Meanwhile, Chavita public relations officer Mr Msafiri adds that so far his organisation this year expects to form HIV/Aids association that would assist to improve the health of the deaf..
He said that the organisation aims to see Tanzanian community that recognises, accepts and cooperates with deaf people and ensures that they are not afflicted by poverty, injustice, segregation and any kind of discrimination.
"We thought of forming an HIV/Aids association because the deaf are human beings with feelings therefore it would be better to form an organisation which would strengthen and foster their life for national development,” he says.
Mr Msafiri adds that the major part of the preparation is finished, and lack of funds and experts who could assist them to write proposals to donors so that the organisation can be approved is the remaining item which delays their move.
He says that the deaf do not lack information but the problem is inability to access information that makes them left behind in seeking information.
Although studies have shown that oralism has for many years failed to help deaf learners achieve their educational goals, the oral method has dominantly continued to be used in teaching deaf learners in schools.
The problems facing deaf people in Tanzania are so complex that they create a hurtful circle.
Besides, only a few people are aware of the critical situation surrounding people in the country, and even fewer understand the sign language (TSL).
This kind of situation tends to subject deaf learners to a number of serious problems due to lack of access to equal opportunities.
This in turn leads to other consequences in their life, including inequality in all spheres, namely linguistically, socially, economically, politically, culturally, as well as in other social services like education, health and communication.
Deaf people are usually marginalised and consequently subjected to unemployment and endless poverty.
Last week a team of journalists from various media houses visited Tanzania Association of the Deaf (Chavita) at Mtoni area on the outskirt of Dar es Salaam.
The trip was organised by the Association of Journalists Against Aids (AJAAT) and funded by the African Medical Research Foundation (Amref).
A Chavita member, Ms Upendo Mnasi, who is also deaf and HIV positive, admits that lack of education and the kind of lifestyle she used to live contributed to her present situation.
“It is hard to explain how my life style was and how it led me to get HIV infection. It is painful to tell it,” she said.
She says she was born 41 years ago and discovered she was HIV positive in 1999. She decided to undergo HIV test after endless illness, which she could not know its cause.
According to Ms Mnasi, in the beginning she did not know the importance of testing because she could neither read nor write.
“I thank God, through TACAIDS I managed to break my silence and decided to know my status by voluntarily testing,” she adds.
Gratefully, she says since then she has been getting the Anti retroviral drugs (ARVs) from the suggested health centre without a problem.
“The major problem we are facing is failure to get proper instructions from experts on how to administer the tablets. Most nurses and doctors who provide medicines are not capable of using sign language for deaf people living with HIV,” she claims.
She adds that they prevent themselves from new infections by having safe sex but there are times when they reveal that they are HIV positive, people avoid them.
She, however, urges the government to support them because they are not only disabled but also HIV positive, a situation that adds misery to their lives .
Both deaf and HIV positive, Mr David David and Mwanahawa Hassan, residents of Sinza, say that a family is generally the source of support, encouragement and comfort during hard times of life, unfortunately many don’t have that kind of relationship with their families.
They say that they have been together as a couple for a long time, but unfortunately are not blessed with children yet.
“When we got married our families never supported us, instead they rejected us; something which didn’t end our relationship, we decided to carry on with marriage and live our life,” they said.
According to Mr David, people with hearing loss are often treated as second class citizens, adding that sometimes such kind of treatment is intentional but much of this is due to lack of awareness by the general public.
He says this treatment is evident in many aspects of life and results in lack of things that are important to the deaf community.
Mr David says that services are not enough to sustain the majority of health facilities. But the biggest is lack of specialists in communication skills for the deaf and blind persons.
He expounded that given the opportunities deaf people can be productive members of Tanzanian workforce.
This can only happen if stakeholders and the government efforts to include deaf and other disability issues in economic planning.
Meanwhile, Chavita public relations officer Mr Msafiri adds that so far his organisation this year expects to form HIV/Aids association that would assist to improve the health of the deaf..
He said that the organisation aims to see Tanzanian community that recognises, accepts and cooperates with deaf people and ensures that they are not afflicted by poverty, injustice, segregation and any kind of discrimination.
"We thought of forming an HIV/Aids association because the deaf are human beings with feelings therefore it would be better to form an organisation which would strengthen and foster their life for national development,” he says.
Mr Msafiri adds that the major part of the preparation is finished, and lack of funds and experts who could assist them to write proposals to donors so that the organisation can be approved is the remaining item which delays their move.
He says that the deaf do not lack information but the problem is inability to access information that makes them left behind in seeking information.
Although studies have shown that oralism has for many years failed to help deaf learners achieve their educational goals, the oral method has dominantly continued to be used in teaching deaf learners in schools.